First Day At The New Job
by VisualIDentificationZeta
Summary: Loren/Other SUMMARY: what if Loren Singer actually had a life by the time she'd joined the HQ staff?


TITLE: First Day At The New Job

AUTHOR: VIDZ

PAIRING: Loren/Other

Season: 5

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc of the TV show JAG are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fic. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: peeking back slightly after the worst writer's block I had since started writing and it's not even over yet! It's been over a month since my last update and unfortunately can't promise any firm ETA on the next. Writer's block and RL that just got complicated are battering me on two fronts and if the best trained and equipped army in the world couldn't take it, who am I to have a chance of hope? Therefore, please hang on and know that I haven't forgotten about you all.

This time there's something entirely different on the menu and I'm REALLY curious how well it will go down...

SUMMARY: what if Loren Singer actually had a life by the time she'd joined the HQ staff? Loren/Other

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"Honey, I'm hooooooome!" Loren sang out as she closed the door with a bang and dropped her keys on the armoire.

Her husband emerged just in time to help her out of the coat as she'd already removed her cover and put down her briefcase.

"Hey." he murmured once that was done, grasping both of her slim shoulders in his hands and twirling her around to capture her lips in a passionate welcome-home kiss. With a small, helpless whimper the tiny blonde melted into his body and gave herself over to him to do as he pleased, stealing her breath his primary intention.

When he released her five minutes later Loren's lips were red and swollen, eyes half-mast and smoky blue, and knees too weak to hold her up without his help.

Suppressing a smirk he leaned against the wall as Loren collapsed back against the armoire and asked what he'd wanted to know from the first second he'd heard of her new assignment.

"So? How was the first day at the JAG HQ?" he prompted, pronouncing the last two words with a sarcastically pompous intonation.

Loren quirked her eyebrow at him, but didn't pursue, she knew his feelings. So, instead she collected her thoughts and impressions as she pondered her first day at the much covetted billet she'd been working at for so long.

"It was... interesting." she finally declared with a thoughtful look, allowing him to pull her to her feet and propel her towards the bedroom.

"Shower and change clothes, the dinner is almost done." he instructed her, big hands on firm hips guiding her in front of him.

Loren nodded, love washing her heart. This was one of the best perks of marriage: not just occasionally (if he wasn't sent somewhere by his own work) coming home to someone to take care of you and a fresh cooked meal, but having someone to come home to in the first place, company for meals and someone to share her life with in general. She was immensely grateful it was he who'd come home first tonight, because she simply didn't have the energy to cook or do anything at all right now.

"I'd tell you to have a hot bath to relax fully, but you'd just fall asleep again. I have to finish cooking and after you almost drowned last time I don't want to risk leaving you alone any time soon."

Loren accepted the slight rebuke with no complaint because she knew too well he was right. But it was just so damn pleasant laying in hot water, tired and completely relaxed. There was no way she could've avoided dozing off! Still, thank god he'd come home the moment he had because she had already slipped under the surface...

Yawning, she nodded, opened her closet and began unbuttoning her uniform skirt.

"What do you think of your new coworkers?" he asked, sitting down on the bed as he watched her get out of her uniform. With every article that came off, the more visibly relaxed she was, as if they'd been constraining her.

"Well, I can't really say for the Admiral, because I didn't get much of a chance to get to know him. The Chief of Staff was nice, but it came off awkwardly, as if it's something she's not used to. We'll see if this was just that let's-not-scare-off-the-noobie-so-we-can-terrorise-them-later or something else."

"A female Chief of Staff for the Navy JAG?" her husband quirked his eyebrow.

She shot him a look "Yeah, she got the job because the original, male, one decided to skip town, leave them in the dust and return to his Never-never land, or so some of them admitted under subtle nosing around. But she's not a danger, I've already got enough dirt on her to disqualify her if she wants to try something."

"Loren..." the warning and disapproval was clear in his voice. As much as he loved her, he just didn't like some of her methods. She'd gotten better under his guidance, but he still had his work cut out for him to get her on the straight and narrow completely.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna use any of my info. Well, not unless she decides to play dirty or does something stupid again. With the crap she's pulled in the past she doesn't deserve to become the JAG and if she does it again, I'll make sure she's out. The Navy and the Corps deserve better than one like her."

He frowned, but decided this really wasn't something to argue about. Loren was Loren and while he did his best to curb her most vicious and amibitious instincts he also knew she still had a functioning sense of what was right and what was wrong. In the end she always did the right thing, even if it didn't look that way. And whenever it looked like she wouldn't, it was when he stepped in and made sure she did. But, in her professional life, along with her fierce sense of personal ambition was her desire to do good for the Navy.

"You sure found yourself a snitch very quickly..." he changed the topic and the small smile she gave him revealed she knew what he'd done. It didn't matter to him if she knew it or not, though, as long as the effect was the same.

"Meh." she dismissed any possible extraordinarity of it as she sat down next to him to remove her pantyhose "There's at least one busybody in every office who thinks other people's affairs is their business to butt-in as they please and HQ's is this blond, ditzy LTJG. Once I found the right buttons and pushed them she was a right fountain of information, gossip and matchmaking."

At that she stopped in thought and grimaced "I'll have to find a way to make sure she won't start considering me as her new target for anything like that. Or... or even a helper in her little gosssiping and schemes."

"Just give her one of your growls and you'll have her off your back so fast your head will spin." he joked, then sobered and winced at the genuine delight on her face over his idea.

"Honey, you're a genius." she grinned and grabbed his face, planting one on him in glee and gratitude.

"Yeah, so they say." he muttered when he finally could, then silently added to himself _'though, right now, I'm not seeing it.'_

He really felt sorry for her new coworkers, because Loren could be damn unpleasant if she wanted or if someone got on her bad side.

"I almost feel sorry for the poor bastards. If I only remember some of our early days and then when your demons got the better of you..."

That made her stop and look at him with serious eyes "I was a real bitch, wasn't I? I'm glad I didn't manage to push you far enough to give up." she finished with eyes now tender as she snuggled closer to him and sighed as she laid her head on his chest.

"Eh, I knew you were testing me and the limits and it only made me more determined to stick on, I knew you needed a keeper." his arms closed around her and he smirked "Anyway, who else?"

"Well, aside from my snitch, there is also her husband, a Lieutenant who probably has at least one accident per morning - in the time I was there he managed to spill his coffee all over himself and later trip over a briefcase; a couple of bland, unmemorable Lieutenant Commanders and Lieutenants, some obnoxious Aussie exchange officer." came the mumble from his T-shirt.

"Obnoxious? Did he do or say anything inappropriate?" there was an intense look in his eyes, making Loren shiver at the evidence of just how fiercely protective he was of her.

"Not to me, but he's so full of himself that he gets on my nerves without having to work on it. Besides, the CoS makes damn sure she has all of his attention on herself. Oh, yeah, there's that pompous asshole that has just returned from his sojourn to Never-never land and has now been delegated to cleaning toilets as his punishment for going back to his original designator and saving lives, earning a DFC and doing something as extraordinary as pushing his wingman's plane out of danger by his tailhook so he could eject safely."

The shrill ring of the oven's timer cut off whatever he'd meant to say, prompting him to stand up. Which meant Loren was dragged up with him as she was still clinging to his body like a tick. A very tired tick. And smelly too.

"Honey, you need to let go of me, I've got to take care of our food." he had to cajole to be let go.

Once he'd regained his freedom he turned her towards the bathroom, fighting very hard to ignore her adorable pout at being dislodged from her favorite place. The woman could be damn tempting when she wanted.

"Off you go now, take a shower and by the time you're out, food will be served."

He sent her on her way with a firm slap on her nicely rounded buttocks, chuckling as she shrieked in surprise and gave him a playfully dirty look.

Two minutes later Loren felt a draft cool her wet body and she peeked her head out of the shower stall, face unconsciously stretching into a smile at the sight of her husband closing the door behind him.

Ducking back inside to hurry up as she really _was_ hungry, Loren raised her voice to be heard over the flowing water.

"Did you call your parents if they're coming over for the weekend like they said they probably would?"

"Yeah." he returned, grabbing a towel off the heating rack and spreading it out in his hands, ready for Loren to get out "She said they're flying in on Friday, just as soon as his meeting about the small changes to the new LH platform with the design staff is over."

The water cut off and the next second the curtain was pulled back, Loren giving him another grateful smile when she saw he was already waiting for her with the warm towel. Letting him lovingly and thoroughly dry her off, she ran her fingers through his short hair, scratching lightly at his scalp just the way she knew he loved. He froze for a second when she started, fighting to keep on doing his work instead of giving in to his urge, then gave a satisfied sigh and worked on.

By the time he was done his eyes were smoky and pupils dilated. Loren knew what he wanted, but she also knew there was no way she had any energy for that tonight, no matter how much she regretted having to say no.

Cupping his cheek with her small hand she placed a kiss on his lips, looking at him apologetically "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I'm too tired tonight. I'll probaly crash right after dinner and sleep the whole night through."

It wasn't so much disappointment that flooded him, as understanding "It's okay, I know what first days on the job are like, even though it's been a while. You just rest up because if you're not on duty this weekend, you're going to need all the energy you can get."

The promise caused her own pulse to quicken and mouth to dry. With a smoldering look she growled lowly "Can't wait. I'll definitely hold you to this promise."

"Oh, don't worry, it's definitely one I intend to keep."

Her premonition was true. He could see her dwindling away to the Sandman's land, her attempts to keep awake slowly losing their frequency until she was firmly conked out, chin in her hand with the elbow propped on the table, and the fork in her fingers still laying in the plate where she'd speared a piece of chicken just before she'd lost the fight with consciosness.

Smiling softly at the sight, he sighed and got up as silently as he could. It wasn't long before he was carrying her bride-style into the bedroom, where he undressed her and put her to bed.

As soon as she was laying down, head on her pillow and the blanket being pulled up to her chin, Loren smiled and sighed happily in her sleep.

Pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead he left to clean up the kitchen, secure the apartment and get ready for bed himself.

A while later he was by his side of the bed, taking off his clothes, feeling his own fatigue tug at his body. With a grateful sigh of his own he sank into their soft marriage bed, before turning on his side and pulling his wife into his body, luxuriating in their skin-to-skin full-body contact.

This was what marriage to LT Loren Singer was like. Stealing these precious moments between their careers, trying to make up for missed time during the weekends and working together to maintain a successful marriage. A marriage, knowing his wife, he was sure her coworkers would find out about only at the first JAG HQ social event when he was required to attend in that station.

All this after a long and fierce fight for domination between two stubborn, independent people, each determined to win, each having a different purpose. A fight he'd known from the start he had to win, for the sake of them having a future with love and happiness together. Had he lost and she would've taken control, he'd known that their time together would've been counted in days.

They were both damaged, but Loren was the most. Among her issues had also been an intense and fearsome insecurity about her own worth that had led her to sabotage every relationship she'd ever had. Anyone that knew her could testify just how unpleasant she could be if she wanted and she used this ability to drive people away when they got too close. Only his bulldog tenacity and ability to concentrate on his target had prevented her from doing that to them as well the moment she'd realized just how close and serious they were getting.

For their happiness and Loren's very existence as a normal, socially adjusted human being he'd had to become what one of his friends had termed "the benevolent domestic despot". He'd had to break her first, break the back of her issues, of her demons, of her abysmal self-esteem and self-destructive personality, before he let her grow again, under his careful and closely watchful eye to make sure she didn't go back to the way she'd been.

But no matter how it looked like, he'd never raised a hand at her nor been emotionally hurtful, their relationship was in no way abusive. No, to help Loren in this round-about way he'd used psychology and it was a good thing one of his friends was a head-doctor.

She hadn't been ignorant of his plans, ensuing the biggest fight of their relationship, probably of his life. The fact that they were now still together reveals the winner. Loren put up a fight for a while longer, but in the end had to give in.

Slowly, but surely, she realized he was doing it for her own good. After all that effort and work and tears and frustration and sadness and moments of doubt, they were where they'd always been meant to be. Happy, in love, recently married and at the start of their life together. Even Loren's old friends had had to comment just how happier and at peace she was with herself and the world now and it filled him with feelings he couldn't even begin to name to know he'd managed to give her that.

As Loren grew with confidence and self-esteem, so did their relationship and eventually, just a short couple of months ago, they reached the stage where he figured he could safely pop the question. It just got better from there.

Feeling her push her naked butt deeper into his groin, he sighed and let himself enjoy the sensation. Tomorrow he planned on waking her up before her alarm went off in the most pleasurable way, therefore he needed his sleep.

Until then he would luxuriate in the knowledge that the love of his life had just finished the first day at her new posting and quite apparently liked this new job.

After all, once she got settled in they could finally make place in their life for miniature copies of themselves...

THE BEGINNING

**Reviews are love (especially for a writer struggling with a writer's block).**

PS: kudos for the "benevolent domestic despot" concept go to **byhrthelm**, who came up with it during one of our numerous discussions, though this fic is not in the sense nor about the persons involved that we discussed. Actually, it's quite the complete and utter opposite of what he proposed... :D Now, guys, what do you say we all plead with him to write that Harm/Manetti fic he promised? :D


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